5:12 Certainly 1 I am aware of 2 your many rebellious acts 3
and your numerous sins.
You 4 torment the innocent, you take bribes,
and you deny justice to 5 the needy at the city gate. 6
8:2 He said, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end 7 has come for my people Israel! I will no longer overlook their sins. 8
1 tn Or “for.”
2 tn Or “I know” (so most English versions).
3 tn Or “transgressions,” “sins.” See the note on the word “crimes” in 1:3 and on the phrase “covenant violations” in 2:4.
4 tn Heb “Those who.”
5 tn Heb “turn aside.” They “turn aside” the needy by denying them the justice they deserve at the city gate (where legal decisions were made, and therefore where justice should be done).
6 sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate, where the town elders met.
7 tn There is a wordplay here. The Hebrew word קֵץ (qets, “end”) sounds like קָיִץ (qayits, “summer fruit”). The summer fruit arrived toward the end of Israel’s agricultural year; Israel’s national existence was similarly at an end.
8 tn Heb “I will no longer pass over him.”